Automatic fire-extinguishing apparatus



(No Model.)

- C. G. WALWORTH & O. B. HALL. AUTOMATIC FIRE EXTINGUISHING APPARATUS. No. 296,490.

INVEN'T'EJRE CALEB o. wanwoa'rn, or nosron, rLND osnonn n. HALL, or MAL-DEN,

. rrassaonnsnrrs.

AUTOMATIC FlRE-EXTI NGUlSHING APPARATUS.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 296,490, dated April 8, 1884.

Application filed November 17,1883. (No model.)-

To alt whom it may concern Be it known that we, CALEB C. WALwoRrn, of Boston, in-the county of Suffolk, and 0s BORN B. HALL, of Malden, in the county of Middlesex, both inthe State of Massachusetts, have invented a new and useful Improvement in Automatic Fire-Extinguishing Apparatus, which will, in connection with the accompanying drawings, be hereinafter fully described,

andspecifically defined in the appended claims.

This invention relates to that class of automatic fire-extinguishers which are arranged upon a system of water-distributing pipes, and which are held inoperative by fusible metal when the temperature is normal, but which are liberated and rendered operative by the fusing of such confining metal when the temperature is raised to apredetermined point in the incipient stage of a fire; and the invention consists in the combination, with such system of water-distributing pipes and automatic extinguishers, and a valve or stop-cock by which the water is shut off therefrom, of a device ting the distributing-pipes, and showing a modification of the valve and of the devices which actuate it. Fig. 3 is a detached plan view,showing the system of distributing-pipes,

and the extinguishers thereon'nrounted.

In these views, A represents the mainwatersupply pipe, undo the branch pipes connecting therewith, and upon which are arranged the automatic extinguishers b, all of which parts may be of any known kind or arrangement.

A'stop-valve body, 13, is inserted in pipe A at a convenient point therein, beyond which of the lever, been slightly raised, then the lever is fulcrunred at g, and by thus providing a fulcrum near the junction of the valvcwstem and lever the same force, when applied to the outerend of the lever,will overcome a much greater resistance of the valve, in case it should adhere to its seat, or from other causes, and when once the valve is liberated and the fulcrum of the lever changed, the deflection of I the valve-stem from a vertical line by the rising of the lever is materially lessened. Said lever may be of such weight as to resist the water-pressure upon valve 0, or it may be weighted in any of the well-known methods, so that it will resist such pressure. I

For the purpose of opening valve 0 by means of levere, when by the rising of the temperature by fire one or more of the extinguishers b are liberated, we employ the following devices: A water'tank, D, is located in a suitable frost-proof position. This tank is preferably provided with an arched removable top, 71., having an opening at its apex for the cordj, which is attached to interior tank, 5, and sustains the weight Z. Said interior inverted. tank, '1 isprovidcdwith the usual guiding-rolls, which bear against the interior of the outer tank, as shown, in the well-known manner of dip-seal gasometers. It is also formed with a suitably-weighted top, as shown. An air-pipe, or, connected with air-pump 'n, rises in tanks D i above the water-line in the latter, as shown, and serves as the conduit by which air may be forced into said tank r'with the requisite density, it being secured therein by stop-cock arranged between the air-pump and tank. A pipe, 8, connects with pipe at, and also with one of the water-distributing pipes a. Linej passes loosely through lever e, and its weight 1 is arranged at such distance below the lever, when the apparatus is in normal position, that tank i may make a considerable part of its descent before the weight encounters the lever.

The practical operation of our invention, when embodied as above described, is as follows: The'valve 0, being seated and weighted by lever c, excludes the water from the upper part of pipe A, and from all the branches (1, on which are'arranged the extinguishers I), which are closed air-tight and secured by fusible metal, as stated; At the same time, by means of air-pump n, tank '5 is forced upward to its highest limit by compressing air therein to the requisite density to sustain it, the entire system of water-distributing pipes above valve 0 being by pipe 8 filled with air of equal density as in tank 2 and when thus prepared the apparatus requires no other care than the occasional use of pump a to supply the limited but always inevitable leakage of air from the tank and pipes but when, from the effect of an incipient fire, one or more of the extinguishers b are liberated by the consequent weakening or fusion of the confining metal, they will be forced open by the press ure of the confined air therein, when the air in the pipes and tank will escape, thereby allowing tank z to fall, which, by drawing cordj over sheave 7c, raises weight Z into contact with lever 6, thus raising valve 0, as described, and admitting the water,which had been held back by the valve, into the distributing-pipes and extinguishers, and permitting those of the latter which had been released byheat to deliver the water upon the vfire, a check-valve, t, in pipe 8, which' opens upward, preventing the water from escaping throughpipe m.

If desired, a whistle or other alarm may be connected with our apparatus in such manner that the decrease of atmospheric pressure therein shall cause the alarm to sound but as such devices are old, well known, and of great variety, they can readily be applied by any one skilled in the art without illustration or explanation herein, and in such manner that either the slight leakage of air which takes place when the apparatus is not used, or the sudden release thereof when an extinguisher is liberated by heat, shall render such whistle or other alarm operative.

In Fig. 2 the air-pipe s is carried into main pipe A, instead of into a branch pipe a, and instead of avertical acting sliding stem-valve in the main pipe, a valve-body, 0, adapted to a screw-actuated valve, is inserted therein. In this body is arranged a, threaded stem, at, which, by being rotated, will open or close the valve, and as a means of effecting such rotation afusee or drum, 2, is secured on said stem, and a cord wound thereon is carried over sheave 3 and weighted by body 4, so that when the stem is released it will be actuated by said weight 4 to open the valve; and for the purpose of locking and releasing said stem, a hand wheel or crank, c, may be secured thereon, and a projecting stud, x, thereof is arranged to be engaged by the pivoted anglelever w, through one arm of which the cord j passes, while a collar, 3 is secured on said cord at such point as to engage and actuate lever wand disengage it from stud 00, thereby allowing the weight 4 to open the valve through the agency of cord 2, fusee a, and stem at.

-We are aware that it is old, common, and well known in automatic fire-extinguishing apparatus to exclude the water from the dis tributing-pipes and the extinguishers by a di; rect controlling air or gas pressure, which excludes the water by itself occupying the pipes through or into which the water, but for such occupancy, would flow, and we make no claim to any such system or device, as our invention is entirely dissimilar thereto, in that the airpressure in the pipes must in such case be greater than would bethat of the water itself if freely admitted therein, and the water is excluded, as above stated, by the direct resistance thereto of the compressed air or gas, while in our invention the water is excluded from the system of pipes by a valve or other strictly mechanical device, which is inserted in the sup ply-pipe, while the compressed air or an equivalent gas merely sustains a device which will, when the compressed air is liberated by the action of heat upon the extinguishers, bethereby set free, and open the water-confining device or valve, and allow the flow of the water to the pipes and extinguishers, and by our system we substitute for the pressure, which in the disclaimed devices must be equal to or exceed that of the water, a low pressure,which is merely required to sustain the devices that liberate the water-confining valve, and by increasing the area of the cross-section of the tank the requisite air-pressure per square inch therein and in the pipes may be in the same ratio diminished.

\Ve claim as our invention- 1. In an automatic fire-extinguishing apparatus, the combination of a water-supply pipe, with distributing branches connected therewith, and provided with extinguishers adapted to be opened and rendered operative by heat at the danger-point thereof, a water-excluding valve arranged in said supply-pipe, a tank supported by compressed air, with connections by which the'air also communicates with and fills the water-distributing pipes, so as to be liberated'by the opening of an extinguisher, and devices connecting said tank and waterexcluding valve, and adapted to open the valve and admit the water by the falling of the tank at the liberation and escape of the air therein by the opening of an extinguisher, substantially as specified.

2. In an automatic fire-extinguishing apparatus, the combination of supply-pipe A, its branches a, and automatic extinguishers b thereon arranged, a water-excluding valve, 0, arranged in said supply-pipe, an air-tank, 1', arranged to be supported by compressed air, and with devices for compressing and confining the air therein, a pipe, .3, coninmnicatthe latter pivotally connected with the valveing with said air-supply devices and with the stem, and means to actuate said lever, the

water-distributing pipes, a cord, j, supported fulcrafg, arranged at different distances from 15 by sheave k and attached to said tank, a the valvestem, to vary the relative lengths of 5 Weight, Z, suspendedbysaid cord, andavalvethe arms'of the lever at and after the comweighting lever, e, arranged to be actuated mencement of therisingmovementofthevalve, by said cord and its weight, and to thereby substantially as specified. open the valve and liberate the Water, when CALEB O. WVALWORTH. the tank falls, by reason of the escape of the OSBORN B. HALL.

IO air therein, at the liberation of an extinguisher Witnesses: by heat, substantially as specified. ROBERT E. SMYTHE,

3. In combination with valve 0 and lever B, T. W. PORTER. 

